"In 2010, it became overwhelmingly evident that online video sites had found the right formula for delivering content in a way that earns and retains audiences. For example, if you look at 2010 comScore numbers, the amount of time American audiences spent watching video for the major live video publishers...has grown 648 percent to more than 1.4 billion minutes year over year. Short- and long-form content achieved similar success; time spent watching YouTube and Hulu increased by 68 percent and 75 percent, respectively, over the same time period."

As usual, promoters of online media give inadequate perspective and tell only part of the story.

The rest of the story is this. According to Nielsen's Three Screen Report from Q1 2010, video watchers spend 2% of their video-watching time with online video. They watch video on traditional TV 98% of the time -- 9505 minutes a month on TV and 190 minutes a month on line.

If, as the article claims, online video ad sales represent 7% of "the entire ad market" (which I am officially skeptical about) it is way outperforming its reasonable share. If it represents 7% of video ad sales (which I am also skeptical of) it is still outperforming its rightful share by 350%.

Ad Contrarian Says:

"Delusional thinking isn't just acceptable in marketing today -- it's mandatory.""Good ads appeal to us as consumers. Great ads appeal to us as humans."

"Social Media: Tens of millions of disagreeable people looking to make trouble."

"As an ad medium, the web is a much better yellow pages and a much worse television."

"Marketers prefer precise answers that are wrong to imprecise answers that are right."

"Brand studies last for months, cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and generally have less impact on business than cleaning the drapes."

"The idea that the same consumer who was frantically clicking her TV remote to escape from advertising was going to merrily click her mouse to interact with it is going to go down as one of the great advertising delusions of all time."

"Nobody really knows what "creativity" is. Every year thousands of people take a pilgrimage to find out. This involves flying to Cannes, snorting cocaine, and having sex with smokers."

"Marketers habitually overestimate the attraction of new things and underestimate the power of traditional consumer behavior."

"We don’t get them to try our product by convincing them to love our brand. We get them to love our brand by convincing them to try our product."

"In American business, there is nothing stupider than the previous generation of management."

"If the message is right, who cares what screen people see it on? If the message is wrong, what difference does it make?"

"The only form of product information on the planet less trustworthy than advertising is the shrill ravings of web maniacs."

"There's no bigger sucker than a gullible marketer convinced he's missing a trend."

"All ad campaigns are branding campaigns. Whether you intend it to be a branding campaign is irrelevant. It will create an impression of your brand regardless of your intent."

"Nobody ever got famous predicting that things would stay pretty much the same."